Psoroptidia is a

parvorder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

of the

Acari Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

(

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...

) group Astigma (or

Astigmatina Astigmatina is a clade of mites in the superorder Acariformes. Astigmata has been ranked as an order or suborder in the past, but was lowered to the unranked clade Astigmatina of the clade Desmonomatides (synonym Desmonomata) in the order Sarc ...

). It comprises around 40 families, and apparently originated as

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, before a secondary radiation saw some taxa become parasites of mammals. Because of their parasitic lifestyle, members of the Psoroptidia do not exhibit a deutonymph stage. The group contains many of the more notorious

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

members of the Astigmata. Three of the superfamilies in this clade are among those Acarina collectively called

feather mite Feather mites are the members of diverse mite superfamilies: * superorder Acariformes ** Psoroptidia *** Analgoidea *** Freyanoidea *** Pterolichoidea * superorder Parasitiformes ** Dermanyssoidea They are ectoparasites on bird B ...

s, whereas the fourth and fifth – Psoroptoidea and Pyroglyphoidea – contains

ear mite Ear mites are mites that live in the ears of animals and humans. The most commonly seen species in veterinary medicine is '' Otodectes cynotis'' (Gk. ''oto''=ear, ''dectes''=biter, ''cynotis''=of the dog). This species, despite its name, is also ...

s and scabies mites among others.

References

Further reading